MEDITATION
The process of meditation returns us to our natural state. Our culture and our own minds have weaved many tales of who we are, where we came from and how we must conduct our lives. Yet within us, there is a direct experience of our biological nature. There is also an experience of our connection to the rest of nature. These direct experiences are overshadowed, in modern times, by the stories we have been told about who we are.
The direct, natural experiences are like a small child who constantly tugs at his parent’s clothes to get attention. The adults keep talking to each other and ignore the child.
Meditation is the act of yielding to the tug of your biological nature. It is like water sinking into the earth. As it sinks, the water enlivens the earth, allowing life to flourish. As your attention sinks back into your body, and then into your connection to the rest of nature, the body, mind, emotions and all the other parts of a human being, become enlivened. You realize that you are not just your thinking process. You are not just your opinions. You are not just your job title. You are the experience of life itself. This experience is often lost in the hustle and bustle of everyday living.
Imagine you are walking through a carnival. The carnival barkers (the people running the games) call out to you to put a dollar down to throw a ball to knock down some bottles or to throw a dart to puncture balloons. As you walk, each barker shouts at you loudly to get your dollar.
Life is like this. The story our culture tells you is that your choice in life is to decide which game to play – which barker to yield to. You may yield to the barker of buying the latest fashions or the newest cars. The barker’s job is to convince you that you can only be a good person, you can only be satisfied, if you yield to him. That barker may also be selling a religion or a political party.
When you experience your biological nature, the barkers no longer have any hold on you. They are merely people yelling at you.
So people ask me, “How should I meditate?”
While sitting meditation is popular, I have found the best form of meditation for me is natural movement. This may be Tai-chi, Zookinesis or any other form of activity based on the movement of animals. Even watching animals in nature is a wonderful form of meditation. When you imitate an animal’s movement you participate in its flow of energy (chi) and that heals you. Dance serves a similar purpose.
As the body moves, the mind (attention) moves along with the body. Body and Mind flow together and become united. The connection of body and mind heals a basic rift in the fabric of your spirit. By experiencing the interpenetration of body and mind, you become more sensitive to the possibility of being part of a larger “body” and a larger “mind” – that of nature. You become aware of movements of energy, movements of consciousness that flow through you. You no longer feel isolated.
Rather than your body and mind battling each other, you experience integration. This affects your relationship with other people resulting in a less combative feeling. In this way the practice of meditation can lessen the conflicts between members of a society resulting in less animosity and a more enjoyable way of life. At the same time, each person is more of an individual. Rather than tying your identity to the stories of the society you identify with the experience of your own individual nature. The stories are then seen as creative expressions of deeper truths rather than as shallow facts.
I was inspired to write about meditation this week because of the Christmas holiday and the many television shows about Jesus and the history of Christianity. It always seemed odd to me that all of the focus of these programs were on what happened rather than on what he taught. The same could be said of other ancient religious figures. Nowadays Jesus’ teachings are laid out in beautiful detail in the Gnostic Gospels. They are amazing in their clarity and beauty. Yet it seems that all people want to discover from these documents is whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
I think that our culture has become shallow in many ways. We seem interested only in the gossip, the soap operas. In the martial arts we are only interested in techniques rather than principles. We think of Tai-chi as a six lesson course to memorize a series of movements rather than as a life long dedication to health and awareness. And I have never been able to figure out why in heaven’s name, is a perfectly good pair of pants or shoes suddenly out of style.
This past summer my daughter told me she finally had it with my lack of style. She bought me a new bathing suit. When I looked around on the beach it was true that no one was wearing the style I had been wearing all these years. There was a new style that looked like a pair of baggy walking shorts. My daughter told me that this new style had been around for a few years and I never noticed the change before.
Apparently your biological nature does not warn you about style changes. It tells you about how to stay healthy and happy. It tells you about your connection to all people and all life. It shows you how being violent to others (physically, emotionally or intellectually) is really being violent to yourself.
Meditation really serves to remind you who you really are. We need to be reminded from time to time.
